Teak, In Malaysia: Teak's Last-Minute July Mish-Mash Post

Wow, July has fled and I have nothing posted to show for it.

It's not that I have not been busy, quite the contrary.

A new semester has begun, four weeks earlier than normal, with a whole new set of students and then a bunch of returning students in new subjects. Here a group of Environmental Engineering students pose with the manager of Jabatan Bekalan Air's Semambu water treatment centre.

Environmental Engineering Field Trip to JBA Semambu

One of the surprising things (to the uninformed) is that to clean water, one must first make it more dirty. This tank shows brown flocculent being mixed with the suspended sediments in the water. After the violent mixing, the water is allowed to sit for a while so that the large blocks of floc and sediment can settle out, much quicker than if no floc were used.

Drinking water? After the floc settles, you betcha!

The Semambu plant treats ~68 million gallons of water every day. The water is sourced from the Kuantan River near Kampung Kobat and seven large-capacity pumps are used to send it the ~15 kilometers to the Semambu plant.

On a muggy, cloudy July weekend, the DW and I attended an engagement ceremony for the sister of a friend. Called pertunangan, the ceremony had the groom's family traveling from their home in Negri Sembilan -land of the Minangkabu- to Kuantan (3 hours) in a convoy. Everyone waited until the groom's entire family arrived and then they marched to the bride's parents' house carrying the gifts. After taking some photos, my friend had to race back to the house ahead of the pack.

Run Zack, run!

The future bride in her sparkling outfit

I didn't go into the house to watch the largely symbolic discussion between the two families, but rather hung around outside taking Teak-Style photos. Many Malaysian houses using artistic pieces in their metal gates, door and window grills.

Decorative window grill

And, finally, one can never see too many cloud shots and so here we get one of cumulous building over the South China Sea. Photo taken from Taman Gelora Park with the gelora (choppy water) in evidence.